sparks in the dark
by moki-poki
Summary: A little girl trains under mustang and soon learned about a girl in his past can she bring them back together?
1. Chapter 1

Sparks in the Dark

A little girl with golden hair that was a little longer than shoulder length, grabbed a pair of gloves from a shelf and runs out the door only to run back in and grab a coat.

_ My name is Denise, Den for short. I am 12, and I look small for my size. My parents died when I was 8. I now study alchemy under Roy Sensei. He was known as the great flame alchemist back in his military days, but he rarely talks about those days. He has lots of pictures, though. I've been studying as his apprentice for about 4 years now, and today he is going to teach me to use these special alchemy gloves. They allow an alchemist to not have to draw a transmutation circle over and over agen. I've been waiting for this day for a while, so I can't believe it's finally here!_

She ran down a worn dirt path, through the small end of a forest, and over a small bridge to a cottage. She burst through the door and gasped:

"Sorry I'm late!" as she bowed her head frantically, "I'm really sorry, really I am"

"It's ok, it's ok. Did you bring the gloves?" He sat at a desk while he fiddled with a pocket watch. H_e usually was either looking at an old picture or playing with that watch._ Many times, Den had wondered what the watch meant to him and what the pictures signify but she never summoned up the courage to ask him. She was shy.

"Ahh…" She felt her pockets and dug through her bag a few times and then checked the inside pockets of her coat and found them. "Ah yes, I have them!" she said, relieved as she pulled them out of the pocket.

"Good. Let me see them." She handed him the gloves and he examined the markings on the back._ Ooh_ _I hope I did it right. S_he closed her eyes and clenched her fist. "Good, I think your ready to go out back." Her eyes lit up and a smile grew on her face as if the world was her own.

"You mean it? You really mean it?!" She took the gloves from him and looked at them. She had been working on them for a while. This was the 11th pair she had made. _I can't believe it! Now, I can become a flame alchemist just like Roy Sensei!_ She darted out the door rounded the corner and went to the back where she would train. It had almost any thing you could think of. Almost every mineral you would need for anything was there. It was a large space and towards the back was a gun range but Den never really went over there. She didn't even know why Sensei even had it back there. He said that one day he wanted to use it as an excuse. _But for what? Roy Sensei doesn't even have a gun. _She didn't care, all she wanted was to learn how to be as great as Roy Sensei.

But one day she did ask him about it:

"Um…Roy sensei?"

"Yes"

"Why is that gun range there?"

Roy stood up and looked at it. "It's as an excuse. I built it to use it as an excuse for something."

"Did you ever use it?"

"No" He laughed a little. Den looked up at him. _That wasn't really the reply I was looking for. It doesn't matter._ She just went on working.

_ Now I remember! In almost every picture there was a girl, and she always had some sort of gun with her. Come to think of it she was always at Roy Sensei's side... I wonder if that's who he built it for. I'll ask him later. _

She put the gloves on and extended her arm. She focused on a small log that Sensei had placed in the center of a dirt field. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She snapped her fingers and out came a red flash that left a scorch mark on the stump.

"I-I did! Roy Sensei! Look I did it! Uh... Roy Sensei?" She looked around. Usually Roy Sensei would follow behind her, but he was no where to be seen. She retraced her steps back into the cottage. She peeked into the keyhole and saw that he was on the phone. She couldn't help but eavesdrop.

"Hello?...Yes, this is Roy…Oh, Hey Jean!….No, I haven't…. Yeah I know…. I-I cant, I gave up on her. I couldn't face her now….No, she doesn't….Okay.. Fine Ill think about it….Bye" He hung up. "That was an old friend." He turned around and looked to the door. He knew she was there , She instantly turned bright red. "It's okay, I knew you were there. Come in here, I want you to do some thing for me." Den slowly opened the door and walked up to Roy, he put his hand on her head and smiled.

"Okay, now this is what I want you to do," He pulled out a small picture of a girl that that had golden hair like hers, but it was pinned up. She had a small dog with her. It was the girl from all of the pictures. "I want you to take this to her. Her name is Riza Hawkeye." He gave her a small box that was tied tightly with string, there was a transmutation circle on the bottom She looked at it for a minute then put it in her brown bag that hung down from her shoulder.

"But how do I fined her Sensei?"

"She works at a gun range in the town, training soldiers. She should be there" He watched Den take off her gloves and put them in her coat pocket. "Now, go if you want to make it home before dark. You don't have to come back here today because it is a long trip to the town." She took off with out a word.

To be continued in chapter 2!

Hay, this is Moki! Thanks for reading sparks! I started this a long long time ago but one day I was going through files on my computer and found it! So I started it up agen . I know the first chapter is really short but the 2ed chapter it twice the size…. But its good non the less ( well at least I hope its good) I welcome Ideas and subjections coz I do some times get stuck and don't know what to do.

and a big thank you to kisa! my eddtor now hopefuly its not so full of spelling errors...


	2. chapter 2

Chapter 2

It was getting close to noon as Den was nearing the town. She was looking at the box and trying to figure out what the transmutation circle on the bottom was for. She didn't want to mess it up so she didn't try anything on it. She would just have to wait until she gave the box to Miss Hawkeye.

"Finally, I made it!" Den sighed. _It's been almost 4 months since I've been to the town._ Usually she was able to buy every thing she needed from small stands just outside the town. She began to look for signs of a gun range but she found nothing. She sat on a bench in front of a little flower shop, taking a short break.

"H-Hello? May I help you?" A little girl said from the doorway of the shop. Den looked at the little girl. She seemed to be about 8 years old.

"Well, do you know where I could find a gun range?"  
"I don't, but my brother does! Follow me." The little girl went back in to the shop. Den followed her into the quiet little shop that seemed to overflow with plants and flowers of all sorts. It was packed with everything from saplings to daisies. It had most beautiful scent. Den almost didn't want to leave the shop. It reminded her of her mother's garden. Although she didn't remember much of what was in the garden, she could remember that it was full with life and beauty. Finally the little girl opened a door that led them to a little alley. Den looked down one way then down the other.

"Big Brother! Big Brother! Where are you?!" she called. It was followed by a long silence and out of nowhere, came a tall boy with ivory skin, dark hair, and eyes just like Roy Sensei's. Den froze while the boy talked to the little girl. Once he turned to her she snapped out of it.

"So, you're looking for the gun range? Why does a little girl like you want to go to the range?" he said as he looked down on her. Her face turned red with anger.

"What do you mean by little?! I'm just small for my age, that's all!" she said turning to the side trying to avoid looking at his face and folding her arms.

"Hey, hey no hard feelings! It's just that it's unusual for a girl to go to the range, that's all," he said trying to prove himself.

Den looked at him through the corner of her eye and let out a huff, "Well, can you take me there or not?" she snarled, still not happy with the boy.

"Well yeah, it's just two blocks over. Still, why do you want to go to the range? That's if you don't mind me asking." Trying to see the color of Den's beautiful amber eyes he gently used his hand to tilt her head up towards him. He put on a big smile trying to turn the mood from hostile and angry to friendly and kind.

"If you must know, my sensei wants me to deliver something to someone." she said as she finally met his gaze which froze her, not in a cold way but in a warm and peaceful way.

"All right then," he said, with an even bigger smile than before, "shall we go now?" He turned away then looked back over his shoulder. He looked forward and began to walk away.

Den stood still for a minute then followed slowly and stayed at least 2 feet behind him. She felt shyer than ever. She followed him silently around corners and through alleys. The silence was unbearable. Every once in a while he would look over his shoulder to be sure she was still there. Finally he blurted out, "So where do you live? I haven't seen you around town. Are you visiting from another town?" he asked, in hope that she would come and walk beside him.

"Um, well I live in a house in the woods…" she said quietly holding the strap that crossed her shoulder.

"Oh, so you and your sensei live together out there?"

"No…" she said holding even tighter to the strap. "Are we almost there? I have to hurry." She said looking down. He could see how sad the expression on her face was and he knew he shouldn't have brought up the subject.

"Yeah, it's right here," he said pointing to an open door up ahead. She smiled and began to pick up the pace.

Once inside she began to scan the people working in the range. Her smile faded when she did not find what she was looking for.

"Huh? What's wrong?" he asked.

"Does a girl work here?" she asked back.

"Yeah, she might be in the back right now though. Hold on." he said as he jumped the counter and walked in the backroom greeting a large man as he walked by.

Den stood and waited in front of the counter. She jumped the first time she heard a gun shot but after the first time she was able to just ignore it. Large men walked in and looked surprised to see a little girl in the range. Finally, a girl that looked just like the one Roy Sensei told her to find walked out of the room with the boy. They were laughing.

"That's her," he said, as he pointed to Den Riza turned and froze. "Huh? Riza what's wrong?"

"Oh nothing," she said as she snapped out of it and smiled. She walked up to the counter and said "How can I help you?"

Den looked up with wide eyes. _She's even prettier in person,_ she thought. "Oh yeah, I was told to give you this." Den said, as she dug through her bag and pulled out the box. She tried to look at the transmutation circle on the bottom before she handed it over.

Riza looked at a little confused then she saw the transmutation circle and she froze remembering when she tried to learn alchemy herself.

"Is something wrong miss?" Den asked

"Oh no…Where did you get this box?" Riza said trying to hide the shock.

"I think my sensei made it. Why?" Den said puzzled. _Doesn't she know that it's from Roy Sensei?_

"And who is your sensei?" Riza asked

"Roy Mustang. He's the one who told me to give you the box. Didn't you know that it was from him?" Den said puzzled. "Do you mind me asking what the transmutation circle is for?"

Riza was shocked as soon as Den had brought up Roy's name. She began to remember the few years she had spent looking for him and the last time she had seen him. "I'll show you, watch closely now…" Riza was still trying to hide her real feelings so she didn't startle Den.

She pulled one of the strings and it rubbed against the bottom of the box. Once the knot came undone the box disappeared in a black flame, leaving a white silk cloth. Riza picked it up and wrapped in it, ever so carefully, was a golden bullet on a chain with her name engraved on the side.

Along with the bullet was a note that read.

_Riza,_

_I meant to give this to you years ago, but I could not find you. Once I did find you it was on accident. I had already given up on finding you and for that I thought you were some thing I didn't deserve. I stayed out in the woods for years, until Den found me. She reminds me of you in almost everyway. She is determined and at times stubborn ,but always beautiful. It finally got to me and this box was collecting too much dust in the closet. Oh and happy birthday by the way._

_Roy M._

She didn't read the letter out loud. Den and the boy were still amazed at how the box disappeared so quickly and left almost no trace that it was there at all. Riza could no longer hide her emotion. She began to cry silently as she held the letter tight. "Den would you mind coming back in a few days?"

"Um, no, as long as it's okay with Roy Sensei." Den didn't know what had upset Riza but she knew that it probably had something to do with Sensei's letter.

"Thank you. Kei, would you walk Den to the edge of town? She probably doesn't know the area very well."

"Uh, yeah sure." Den could see that Kei didn't like seeing Riza so upset.

Kei and Den said their good-byes to Riza and left. Once they were on their way, Den said, "You don't have to take me to the edge of town. As long as you can get me to the main road I can find my way home from there." Feeling like a lost child that had to follow someone, she didn't like relying on his help.

"It's ok, it's not like I have anything better to do. Besides, it's getting late and there are a few shady people in this town."

"What? You don't think I can protect my self! Well you're wrong!" Den snapped.

He laughed quietly while he raised his hands behind his head. Despite his efforts to hide his laughing, Den heard him

"Hey! What's so funny?!"

"It's not that its funny-"

"Then what is it?!"

"It's cute."

"Huh?" Den was stunned. _He said that it was, I was cute. _"W-What do you mean by that?" Den asked flustered as she turned hot pink.

"It's cute. I don't know how to explain it, but it's just cute. I like it" He said, as he let out another little laugh. Den was quiet now. She blushed and couldn't say anything. He looked back at her through the small gap between his arm and his head.

As they neared the edge of town, Den began to feel relieved, yet disappointed. She rarely came to town, although she did tell Miss Riza that she would come back soon. _But this boy! _Either it was the lack of being in the town or that he was just plain interesting that made her want to see him again. She looked up at him. He was a few paces ahead of her but that was Den's fault. She decided to go and walk along side of him now. He was surprised to see Den at his side, but he just smiled and they carried on.

When they finally got to the edge of town, they slowed to a stop. "Well I guess this is where I go it alone." She looked down. She didn't dare to meet with his dark chestnut eyes. She didn't want to show him the disappointment on her face.

"Yeah, I guess your right. But hey! You are coming back to town soon, right? To see Riza?" He said trying to cheer her up because he could plainly see the disappointment she was trying to hide.

"Huh? Oh y-yeah." She looked up and couldn't help but be drawn to his dark eyes instantly.

"Well, if you could come early in the day you probably could make a stop before or even after you see Riza. That's if it's okay with your Sensei of course." He said with a charming grin. Den knew all about his game he was trying to get her to play. She decided to step up to the plate.

"And where would I go on this stop?" she said.

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe…the flower shop?"

"Really? And what would I do once I got there?"

"I don't know. Maybe go and get some lunch… With me?"

"Well, I'm sure my Sensei won't mind if I get lunch in town before I see Miss Riza."

"So, that's a yes?"

"A yes to what?" she said now playing with him.

"Well, I guess I'm kind of asking you out to lunch."

"Kind of?"

"Well yeah, I'm asking you out to lunch... So will you go?"

She turned red. Yes, she knew that he was asking her out but just the words were enough to make her blush. She calmed herself so that she could answer "Y-Yes!"

"Okay, well then I'll see you then!" He said before he took off in the other direction.

She turned herself around and began to walk to her little house. She had a lot on her mind. It had been quite a day. She was just learning to use the gloves, she went into the town to see Miss Riza and…now, to have a lunch date with that bo- _What was it that miss Hawkeye called him? It was…Kei! That was it! His name was Kei!_ And to have lunch with Kei!


End file.
